Julie dressed in the first new set of clothes she'd had since Kylee had been born. Although she was nervous about working for such a powerful woman, she took a deep breath and reminded herself that she would actually work under a different doctor and their nursing team. She would report to the head nurse on duty, so only brief contact between her and Dr. Vivian Bartley would occur. When she got to Dr. Vivian's office wearing the clothes, a brand new set of white scrubs patterned with colorful daisies all over. They were prettier and more comfortable than her candy-striper uniform from the museum.
While outside the office, waiting to be buzzed in, she observed many happy couples moving back and forth in the halls. Some were heavily pregnant; others were only slightly showing. A part of her envied their partnerships. She hadn't been lucky with her fated mate, so it made her feel bitter and depressed. She hoped she wouldn't have to work in the maternity ward. That would feel like a slap to the face every day she had to work.
As she stewed in her unhappy feelings, a Southern voice sounded just around the corner that sounded familiar. A nurse had greeted that Southern doctor from the other day. When he rounded the corner, she did her best to make it obvious that she wasn't looking for him and held her head with a hand over her brow, shielding her eyes.
"A headache so early in the morning? May I offer you some assistance with that?" Julie didn't know what this doctor was playing at, but she didn't have a headache. Or so she thought. When she looked up, she winced. How did she not realize that her head hurt? And how did this doctor know before she did? The doctor rummaged in his breast pocket of his scrubs before he held out a blister pack of pills clearly labeled for headache relief.
"If you don't have a water bottle, there's a drinking fountain around the corner…" The southern doctor gestured as she gratefully took the packet. She didn't know how or why this pediatrician was just wandering around with headache medicine on hand, but right now, with the throb in her temple only hammering away at her, she didn't stop to question him. As she got up to go around the corner to get a drink of water, she heard the doctor being buzzed into the office. As soon as she had taken the recommended dose, she went back to sit outside the office.
She wondered for just a moment why the southern doctor had entered the office, but then remembered that he was a pediatrician and it went hand in hand with childbirth, of which was Dr. Vivian's field of work, so of course there was a professional overlap between them. It wasn't long before she was also buzzed into the office. Once inside, she was only a little surprised to see Dr. Thornton still there. She figured he would have finished whatever business he had and leave before she was summoned. When she offered to hold the door open for him on his way out, he chuckled. It was a deep belly laugh that defied his trim appearance.
"Alright, Julie. Your work will be with Dr. Thornton in the pediatrics wing on this floor. He will assign you to work with the head nurse under him. If you have concerns about the work, you'll bring it up with his head nurse and, if necessary, he will inform me." Dr. Vivian gestured to Dr. Thornton.
"It's a pleasure to be working with you, Julie." Dr. Thornton flashed a criminally handsome smile and bowed slightly. It weirded her out that she found him so charming. She wasn't one to fawn over things such as charm or romance. Romance had long since been dead to her.
"Sure." Julie averted her eyes to avoid looking directly at the man. She just had to put up with him for a little while. She would work with the head nurse more than anything as she studied to get her CNA qualification.
"Alright, now that's settled, you two are dismissed." Dr. Vivian waved them off as she went back to studying something on her desk's HUD.
"Shall we?" Dr. Thornton smiled at her again and gave a sweeping bow as he opened the door for her, indicating that she was to exit before him. Julie exited the office and waited for the doctor to show her the way. She hadn't explored the hospital yet, so was uncertain of which way to go.
She had been busy with her children now that it was summer break and all of them were home all day. The daycare paperwork was still being processed, so the youngest ones didn't get to attend the in-house daycare at the hospital for staff yet. The middle children were to attend a summer day camp that offered arts and crafts along with sporting opportunities, as well as moderate educational activities. Again, this was all paid for by the Bartleys. The oldest two. Well, Erik was having the time of his life with his mate, and Nichole was now working at a convenience store whose owner was again somehow related to the Bartleys. As for Erik, what he ended up doing was his choice at this point in his life. She figured he would be just fine now that he had the full support of the Bartleys.
As she was walking, lost in thought, she didn't see Dr. Thornton stop in front of a vending machine, so she bumped into him. She quickly apologized, only for him to chuckle and say it wasn't a big deal. He then offered to get her something from the machine. She questioned herself about what motive her new boss had for offering such a thing at first, but then decided that he was just being nice to her on her first day.
After refusing politely, Julie was shown to the pediatrics ward, given an employee name badge that served as her ID and shown the basics of what she would do in the limited scope of things she could do until she earned her certification. It seemed peculiar that the doctor rather than the head nurse she'd yet to meet was training her.
Eventually, she couldn't help but ask, "Why are you showing me around when I was told I reported to the head nurse? Shouldn't I be working with them?"
"Normally yes. However, Mrs. Sherman is off duty this morning for a maternity appointment. He'll be back this afternoon."
Julie's face flushed with embarrassment. She had been so rude. "I'm sorry; that was rude of me."
"It's quite alright. As you can now see, I'll be a little shorthanded soon, and that's where you are coming in. You'll be filling the shoes of one of our junior nurses who has recently qualified for their RNA degree. The next most senior nurse will become the new temporary head nurse when the time comes." Dr. Thornton explained to her as he showed her what her duties were to be.
As Julie observed and took mental notes of her role, it clicked that she was being paid to be a glorified intern until she took her certification.
"Here is the canteen, where you can grab coffee or tea, store and heat your lunch, as well as grab a complimentary snack between duties. It's stocked weekly, so if you notice something missing, make a note of it and it will be replenished with the next order. Next, this is the primary nurses' station where you'll be running paperwork. In this pediatrics ward, we work closely with the maternity ward's NICU, so our PICU patients sometimes overlap as they age out of the NICU."
"You will primarily run between satellite stations in the general ward, but occasionally you may need to fetch or run documents between those wards. Always keep your name badge accessible and visible as it allows the staff-only areas to recognize you. Doors will generally open for you automatically, but occasionally more secure areas, such as the dispensary, will require a higher-level badge and unique PIN to access."
Dr. Thornton was a fount of knowledge on how the ward ran and what exactly each nurse's duties were as well as could tell you which patients responded to which nurses and were assigned as such when possible. He could list every nurse by name, as well as each patient in the ward currently and what they were in for. Julie found it fascinating, as she would have had to look that information up, whereas he just knew it off the top of his head.
By the time the head nurse came on duty, she was already tackling her first assignment. As the day progressed, she realized she had gravely mistaken her role. This entire ward ran flawlessly, and it was because of the role each person working performed. Perhaps learning on the job was the best after all.